10th July, 2017
Bola Agboola
The need to protect the environment from flooding and other environmental hazards took center stage on Monday at the Ekiti State Ministry of Environment as top civil servants welcomed back to office the re-instated Commissioner for Environment, Otunba Bisi Kolawole.
Otunba Kolawole is one of the six commissioners directed by the Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose to resume to their duty post on Sunday 9th July 2017 after the dissolution of the State Exco, penultimate week.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment Engr Olumide Ajayi while welcomimg back the commissioner highlighted the challenges being faced by agencies in the ministry and the need for the commissioner to hit the ground running.
"It's a great pleasure to have you back in our midst, the exco dissolution has indeed given room for self appraisal. We are happy the comments coming in have been satisfactory across the divide, in the civil service, political class, even in the social media which is free for all. It has been encomium upon encomium. I must say we are proud of that as a ministry. We are higly impressed to have you back Sir.
"In the last one week that you left, it was as if you told God to allow these people miss you. The weather hasn't been friendly. It has been a case of flooding here and there, there have been no intermediaries between the Governor and State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), the state waste management people and SEPA have not found it funny, but we thank God you are back. The challenges are there and enormous, but we are sure you will hit the ground running," Engr. Olumide said in his welcome back address.
Otunba Bisi Kolawole drove home his reaction with a Yoruba illustration that says, one should feign death and see who mourns one's demise. "I want to appreciate you all. You have gathered here again to welcome me to the ministry, my brother, the Permanent Secretary have said it all. One should feign death and see who mourns him. It is not easy to leave public ofice and get accolades, I give glory to God for what has happened, maybe God wanted me to see some things about my ordinary self.
"About the situation in the forestry, we have to throw it back to the people, we must not leave our lives, our future for ruins. Environmental challenges are not peculiar to Ekiti State, and I think the solution lies in tree planting. Seriously speaking, individuals should resort to tree planting. Infrastructural developments come with its own hazards, it is therefore important we plant trees that will serve as storm and wind breakers, trees that would reduce the effects of wind on our roof. When we do this, we would have been seen as doing our best and leaving the rest for God. Of course, natural disaster we can not help, we are not God, but as human beings, we must be seen as trying to do our best.
"The commissioner charged workers in the ministry to intensify efforts in making the public know the essence of tree planting. While urging support for SEPA, Kolawole appreciated workers at Waste Management Board for the good job they have been doing.
"Again, I want to commend everybody in this ministry, we have done well. People commended your commissioner, I want you to know that it is not about the commissioner, it is about the entire team in the ministry. I don't go out to pick dirt by myself, I don't go out to clear refuse, but it is the team work that has resulted in those accolades. I appreciate you and also call on you to re-double your efforts, so we can meet up with the governor's mission and vision of clean, neat, and dirt-free Ekiti State.
Otunba Kolawole who reiterated that supporting governor Fayose to pick a successor come 2018 is in the interest of Ekiti people cited the numerous developmental projects embarked upon by the governor as reason for his advocacy for continuity.
"This is not about campaign, you can see the flyover there, a blind man can feel it, the dumb can see it, go to the ultra modern market, go to Adunni Olayinka, go to some local government headquarters where we now have dualised roads, you'll be convinced within yourself that if we are able to sustain the tempo of this development in Ekiti, then one day, we will get there.
"On the issue of salary payment, I thank God for the governor's transparency. How they spend whatever comes in is being decided by all the unions, and whatever you ask him to do with that, he does. He has prayed to God and he is very optistic that he will not leave that seat as a debtor of salary. The governor is hopeful and I also share his belief that God will transform the financial fortune of Ekiti. Something miraculous will happen such that by the end of his tenure he wont be owning workers. I commend you all once again, I have enjoyed myself in this ministry, you have made the job easy for me. You have been my brothers, you have been my sisters. I commend you and I want us to keep it up, may God continue to sustain us," Hon. Kolawole submitted.
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